This Week in Hurricanes History: Toral’s Slam Sinks NolesThis Week in Hurricanes History: Toral’s Slam Sinks Noles

This Week in Hurricanes History: Toral’s Slam Sinks Noles

Baseball

Few rivalries compare to the in-state disdain shared by Miami and Florida State. Whether they are competing in football, baseball or anything else, the annual meeting between the two schools is considered a must-see event and both sides are eager to beat their bitter rival.

Few rivalries compare to the in-state disdain shared by Miami and Florida State.

Whether they are competing in football, baseball or anything else, the annual meeting between the two schools is considered a must-see event and both sides are eager to beat their bitter rival.

The animosity between the two baseball programs spans decades. The Hurricanes have won four national titles, including one over the Seminoles in 1999. Meanwhile, then-Florida State head coach Mike Martin is the all-time winningest coach in college baseball history with 2,029 victories.

Despite all of his success in the regular season, Martin was 0-for-39 in attempts to bring a national championship to Tallahassee, Fla., entering the 2019 season – his 40th and final year at the helm of the Seminoles.

In 2018, the Hurricanes beat Florida State in their series finale at Dick Howser Stadium. The 11-5 Canes win prevented a sweep and kept the champagne on ice in Tallahassee, as Martin did not set the all-time wins record against his archrival.

A year later, the 2019 edition of the rivalry series took place in Coral Gables with Martin recognized before the Friday night series opener at Mark Light Field. About an hour after the pregame pomp and circumstance, Miami first baseman Alex Toral gave Florida State’s skipper a memory he likely wants to forget.

One swing of the ACC home run king’s bat sent the 3,227 fans into a frenzy inside Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, as the sophomore crushed a grand slam deep to center field to push the hometown Hurricanes past the rival Seminoles.

“That place was rocking,” Toral said. “That was the most packed that I had seen The Light to that point. When I hit that grand slam, I went home and I told my brother, ‘That was the loudest I’ve heard that stadium in a long time.’ That just goes to show you that our fans are true and you know they want to see us win.”

The sophomore slugger crushed an 0-2 pitch from Florida State ace Drew Parrish for a grand slam off the batter’s eye beyond the center field fence to give Miami a 4-0 lead.

“I felt like I’d been seeing the ball well off him and I just got under one my first at-bat,” Toral said. “I was like, ‘If he makes a mistake here, I’ve got to capitalize on it.’ Sure enough, he left one over the heart of the plate and as soon as I made contact, I don’t really remember anything after that until I got home and was celebrating with my teammates. That was pretty special.”

The blast was Toral’s ACC-leading 13th home run of the year and appeared to rattle Parrish, as he hit Gabe Rivera on the first pitch of the next at-bat and then walked Jordan Lala before being lifted in favor of lefty reliever Austin Pollock. Eight pitches later, Anthony Vilar was headed to first with a walk and Martin was coming back out of the dugout to swap pitchers again.

Toral’s blast might have been Martin’s loudest reminder of what playing the Hurricanes at The Light was like, but Miami starting pitcher Evan McKendry showed the veteran head coach that the Canes had plenty of quality arms, too.

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A native of Pembroke Pines, Fla., McKendry grew up attending games at Mark Light Field and always dreamt of pitching against the rival Seminoles in Miami’s home ballpark.

“Everybody is pumped up for these games,” McKendry said. “Everybody is excited and over the moon trying to play into the rivalry and I feel like it feeds into how I play and pitch as a player because I like to stay relaxed, so all I have to focus on is just staying calm, pitching my game and keeping focus.”

After facing the Seminoles as a sophomore on the road, McKendry finally got the chance to make his dream a reality on April 5, 2019 and he did not disappoint. Miami’s ace kept Florida State’s bats in check in the series opener, allowing just three hits and striking out nine over seven scoreless innings to earn his fifth win of the year. He was rewarded for his efforts three days later by earning ACC Pitcher of the Week honors.

“It was my one and only opportunity to throw against a rival FSU at home at The Light, so I was pumped up and The Light definitely did not let me down,” McKendry said. “I remember it being loud and energetic throughout that entire game and I think it was loudest when Toral hit that grand slam off the batter’s eye. That was pretty nice.”

McKendry helped set the stage for Toral’s heroic homer when he struck out the side in the fifth, running his tally to six strikeouts over five frames. Miami’s bats came alive in the bottom of the inning as they sent 10 men to bat against three different Seminole pitchers.

At the end of the night, the scoreboard read 11-0 in favor of the Canes with Miami’s offensive output matching Martin’s jersey number. The shutout win over Florida State was the first by the Hurricanes since a 12-0 victory in Coral Gables on April 26, 2015.

“Winning the first game certainly helps,” head coach Gino DiMare said at the time. “I told the guys we hadn’t really played a complete game this year. … I didn’t realize, but six runs we scored with two outs in the seventh inning. And of course we played very good defense. Great complete game. I’m very happy.”

A day later, Miami honored the 1999 national championship team in a pregame ceremony recognizing the 20-year anniversary of their title game win over the Seminoles.

The Canes also continued their dominance on the mound, as Chris McMahon was brilliant to help clinch the series for Miami. The sophomore right-hander had the breakthrough outing he had been looking for all season, holding Florida State to just three hits over a season-high seven scoreless innings, while striking out nine to earn his second win of the season.

“I remember the first inning and the sun was still out a little bit and setting behind the third base dugout,” McMahon said. “In that first inning, you felt more of a buzz in the crowd that night. The last pitch of the first inning, I struck out Drew Mendoza with a fastball and I kind of blew it by him and the crowd roared. Sometimes in the first inning, people are still getting to the park or haven’t gotten to their seats. But that night, people got in their seats early and were ready to go and they let everyone know they were in the stands and ready to go when that strikeout happened.”

McMahon was motivated by McKendry’s performance the night before, but it was Miami’s ace who was impressed by how McMahon rose to the occasion in his first opportunity to face the rival Seminoles.

“I loved it, especially after I go out the first night and do well, then seeing Chris do pretty much the same exact thing I did on Saturday was pretty cool,” McKendry said. “I honestly thought we were both going to end up getting ACC Pitcher of the Week. As a captain and as a pitcher on the staff, it was awesome to see us do so well.”

The Seminoles appeared poised for a big inning in the top of the third, loading the bases with two outs against Miami’s starter. But McMahon pitched out of the jam, throwing a slider past J.C. Flowers to keep the game scoreless.

Miami’s bats rewarded his efforts in the bottom of the inning, as Rivera crushed a one-out opposite-field solo homer off Florida State starter right-hander CJ Van Eyk to put the Canes on the scoreboard, 1-0.

“Going into that series, I remember talking to Gabe Rivera, who is my roommate,” Toral said. And I was like, ‘Hey, I feel like we’re going to do something big this series and we’re going to do something to get this team going.’ And it’s funny enough, I hit mine on Friday night, and on Saturday night his home run got us going and that is something that we still talk about every time we get together. It just goes to show that you’re going to remember these moments forever.”

The Canes added three more runs against Van Eyk in the bottom of the fifth, while Daniel Federman and Greg Veliz followed McMahon on the mound to close out the second shutout against Florida State in as many days. With the victory, the Canes clinched a regular season series against the Seminoles for the first time since 2016.

Miami shut out Florida State in back-to-back games for the first time since winning 4-0 on April 11, 2004 and 10-0 on April 16, 2004. The consecutive shutouts also marked the first time since the Hurricanes blanked Notre Dame, 3-0 on March 9, 2018 and 9-0 on March 10, 2018.

After being shut out in each of the first two games in Coral Gables, Florida State finally scored a run in its 21st inning of action against the Hurricanes. But the 20-inning scoreless streak was a sign of how dominant Miami’s pitching could be.

“The pitching staff as a whole, starters and bullpen, was going through a rough patch from the week prior and it felt like for the month prior to that series,” McMahon said. “For me and Evan to kind of lead the way those first two nights was definitely a turning point for us and for the pitching staff as a whole last year. Just to be a part of that 20-inning shutout streak that weekend was great, but the series win was the most fun. I’ll remember that series for the rest of my life.”

No one realized it at the time, but the series victory over Florida State meant much more to Miami than just a couple wins over their rival.

Miami entered the series 18-11 and coming off a midweek loss to FAU. The Hurricanes had dropped eight of their previous 11 games, but the upcoming rivalry series provided a spark the Canes needed to get back on track.

“That was a very tough stretch for us,” McKendry said. “I’m sure every pitcher on the staff remembers playing at Pitt, where I didn’t throw great on Friday and Chris didn’t throw great on Saturday and the bullpen didn’t really help us out much. On Sunday morning, Gino had a meeting with all the pitchers and he was very upset with the way we were throwing and he told us everything he was thinking. Basically that we weren’t performing like the staff we were capable of being. And it was pretty much from that point on, it was great to come out and do what we did that weekend against FSU.

“I remember Chris and I even had a meeting with [pitching coach] J.D. [Arteaga] before the FSU weekend, sort of talking about just how the team was doing as a whole and how the staff is doing as a whole through that stretch,” McKendry said. “I know Chris and I both came out of that meeting pretty damn motivated to do well that weekend. And clearly it worked. But it was awesome to really turn the season around and get us rolling toward a regional bid.”

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Following the FSU series, Miami won its next six games and entered the rankings for the first time since Feb. 26, 2018. The Hurricanes finished the regular season strong, going 18-5 after taking two of three games from the Seminoles.

“That was the perfect series to do it, with us playing against a team like Florida State and the rivalry that Miami and Florida State have had for so many years,” Toral said. “That was a perfect series to do it just because of the fact that everyone gets the juices up. Nobody remembers what happened a week ago because we’re playing FSU and that is what we were dealing with in the present moment. And then to come out on top and show the Canes were winning again, that was huge because from that moment on our season really took off and it just all started with that series.”

The 2020 series never happened, as the college baseball season was canceled due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. But the 2019 memories will continue on forever and so will the bragging rights for Toral, McKendry, McMahon and their 2019 teammates.

“It was one of my best college experiences,” Toral said. “Just coming out on top there and being able to say, ‘We beat Florida State this year.’ It’s kind of neat and especially because, in college, you kind of know everybody on the other side of the lines. Having friends at FSU and you get to say, ‘Hey, you remember that weekend series? Yeah, we took it to you that weekend.’ You’ve got those bragging rights the rest of your life.”

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